Basic Principles
- A solution of syrup made of sugar and water is boiled to evaporate part of the water. As the water is boiled off, the temperature of the syrup gradually rises. When all the water has evaporated, all that is left is melted sugar. This sugar then begins to caramelize or turn brown and change in flavour. As the heating continues, the sugar continues to darken and then burn.
- A syrup that is cooked to a high temperature is harder when cooled than a syrup that is cooked to a lower temperature.
- One part water (by weight) is enough to dissolve and cook 3 to 4 parts sugar. There is no point in adding more water than is necessary because you just have to boil it off.
Simple Syrup
- Simple syrup
- It is a solution of equal weights of sugar and water,
- Dessert syrup
- It is a flavoured simple syrup that is used to moisten and flavour some cakes. Flavourings used may be extracts, such as vanilla or liquors such as rum or kirsch. Flavourings should be added after the syrup has cooled because adding it to a hot syrup may make it lose its flavour.
- Syrups may also be flavoured by boiling them with lemon or orange rind.
Crystallization
- Graininess, which is a common fault to many candies and desserts, results when cooked sugar crystallizes or turns to tiny sugar crystals rather than staying dissolved in the syrup. Even just one sugar crystal comes in contact with a cooked syrup, it can start a chain reaction that turns the whole thing into a mass of sugar crystals.
- Avoid crystallization by using the following techniques:
- Wash down the sides of the saucepan with a brush dipped in water. This removes crystals that may seed the whole batch.
- When first bringing the syrup to a boil, cover the pan and boil for several minutes. Condensed steam will wash the sides of the pan. Uncover and finish cooking without stirring.
Stages of Sugar Cooking
When cooking sugar, it is important that you are able to identify the stages of doneness in different ways.
Ingredients
1 kg White sugar
1 cup water
Procedure
- In a sauce pan, pour in the water and the sugar. Stir the mixture until the sugar is completely dissolved.
- When the sugar is completely dissolved, place the pan on medium heat until it boils to form the sugar syrup.
- Dip a brush in water and brush the insides of the pan to clean and remove the sugar that has formed by dissolving it with the water from the brush.
- To determine the stages of doneness, you can use a candy thermometer to test the temperature.
- You can also test for doneness by dropping a bit of the mixture into a container of cold water and checking the hardness of the cooled sugar.